The stack of Microsoft tablet devices had high-end Intel Core processors hovering over ARM SoCs, the two separated by a simple “Pro” label (and Windows 8.x versus Windows RT). While the Pro line has been kept reasonably up to date, the lower tier has been stagnant for a while. That is apparently going to change. WinBeta believes that a new, non-Pro Surface will be announced soon, at or before BUILD 2015. Unlike previous Surface models, it will be powered by an x86 processor from Intel, either an Atom or a Core M.

This also means it will run Windows 8.1.

The article claims, somewhat tongue-in-cheek, that Windows RT is dead. No. But still, the device should be eligible for a Windows 10 upgrade when it launches, unlike the RT-based Surfaces. Whether that is a surprise depends on the direction you view it from. I would find it silly for Microsoft to release a new Surface device, months before an OS update, but design it to be incompatible with it. On the other hand, it would be the first non-Pro Surface to do so. Either way, it was reported.

The “Surface 3”, whatever it will be called, is expected to be a fanless design. VR-Zone expects that it will be similar to the 10.6-inch, 1080p form factor of the Surface 2, but that seems to be their speculation. That is about all that we know thus far.

ASUS has announced the availability and pricing for the ZenBook UX305, and the specifications are quite exceptional for the price. Not content to compete on hardware specs alone the design of the notebook is a miniscule 0.48” thick, making the UX305 the world’s thinnest ultraportable notebook according to ASUS.

As impressive as the slim profile of the aluminum design might be, it is more impressive to look over the main specifications of the $699 UX305:

Intel Core M 5Y10 processor

8GB of LPDDR3 memory

256GB SSD

13.3-inch 1920x1080 IPS display (matte finish)

I'll let that sink in for a moment. Quite an impressive list given the MSRP for these specifications is, again, only $699. At this price it's going to be very difficult to beat the UX305 considering what’s under the hood, as this configuration contains double the memory and storage space compared to many ultraportables in this price class. And 1080p IPS on top of everything is just icing on the cake. Battery life should be very good considerin the processor the heart of this is Intel's newest low-power Broadwell-based Core M (the 5Y10), which features HD 5300 graphics and a TDP of just 4.5W. Moreover, the processor is passively cooled and the notebook features a completely fanless design for silent operation.

Since there are no fans to expell heat ASUS has made it a point to promise that the palm rest will always stay cool thanks to their “IceCool technology” (whatever that is - but I really hope it’s an ice cube cooling system). The UX305 is powered by a 45Wh Lithium Polymer battery that has a claimed 10-hour battery life, and the notebook features 802.11ac wireless, three USB 3.0 ports, and includes a USB Ethernet adapter (a nice touch). ASUS is also touting a premium sound system with this notebook, employing a B&O ICEpower amplifier and enhanced with their proprietary “SonicMaster audio”. Rounding out the feature list is an SD card reader and 720p webcam.

The notebook weighs in at 2.6 Lbs, and this configuration of the UX305 is available immediately (listed on their official store). With the surprisingly low MSRP it sounds like this ZenBook will be a solid choice for anyone looking for the latest notebook tech on a budget, and depending on performance and real-world battery life it could just be that mythical MacBook Air "killer" (if you're ok with Windows 8 over OS X, of course).

Last year, Lenovo showed off the flagship Yoga 3 Pro with a watchband hinge. Now, Lenovo is using CES to officially launch the non pro Yoga 3. The Yoga 3 will be available in 11-inch and 14-inch models running Windows 8.1 and Intel's latest mobile processors.

The Yoga 3 11" comes in at 2.4lbs and 0.6" thick while the Yoga 3 14" weighs 3.5lbs and 0.7" thick. Both variants use the traditional dual hinge design which supports all the usual modes (laptop, tent, stand, and tablet). Notably, the watchband hinge has been reserved for the Pro variant. You will be able to pick up a Yoga 3 in either white or orange with either a 11.6" or 14" 1920 x 1080 resolution touchscreen IPS displays. Audio is handled by two 1.5W JBL speakers (Waves Audio certification) and is complemented by a 720p webcam for videoconferencing.

The Yoga 3 is powered by either an Intel Core M processor (11-Inch) or a 5th Generation Core i5 or i7 (Broadwell-U) processor (14-Inch) along with up to 8GB DDR3L memory, Intel HD graphics (and optional NVIDIA graphics on the 14-Inch Yoga 3), and 128GB or 256GB SSD or 500GB+8GB flash SSHD storage options. The 11-inch Yoga 3 is fitted with a 34Whr battery while the 14-inch tablet gets a larger 44Whr battery. Both models support Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi.

The Lenovo Yoga 3 14-inch has a dedicated graphics option from NVIDIA.

Aside from the higher resolution display options, watchband hinge, and a sliver of thin-ness, you aren't missing out on much with the Yoga 3. The 11-inch and 14-inch are notable updates over the Yoga 2 line and look to be good little machines. In particular, the 14-inch Yoga 3 with NVIDIA graphics and up to a Broadwell-U Core i7 is quite the powerhouse for a convertible!

The Yoga 3 will be available in March starting at $799 for the 11-inch and $979 for the 14-inch respectively. I am looking forward to seeing the reviews on these!

Core M 5Y70 Specifications

Back in August of this year, Intel invited me out to Portland, Oregon to talk about the future of processors and process technology. Broadwell is the first microarchitecture to ship on Intel's newest 14nm process technology and the performance and power implications of it are as impressive as they are complex. We finally have the first retail product based on Broadwell-Y in our hands and I am eager to see how this combination of technology is going to be implemented.

If you have not read through my article that dives into the intricacies of the 14nm process and the architectural changes coming with Broadwell, then I would highly recommend that you do so before diving any further into this review. Our Intel Core M Processor: Broadwell Architecture and 14nm Process Reveal story clearly explains the "how" and "why" for many of the decisions that determined the direction the Core M 5Y70 heads in.

As I stated at the time:

"The information provided by Intel about Broadwell-Y today shows me the company is clearly innovating and iterating on its plans set in place years ago with the focus on power efficiency. Broadwell and the 14nm process technology will likely be another substantial leap between Intel and AMD in the x86 tablet space and should make an impact on other tablet markets (like Android) as long as pricing can remain competitive. That 14nm process gives Intel an advantage that no one else in the industry can claim and unless Intel begins fabricating processors for the competition (not completely out of the question), that will remain a house advantage."

With a background on Intel's goals with Broadwell-Y, let's look at the first true implementation.

Dell's Venue 11 Pro 7000 will be a Win8.1, 10.8" tablet with a 1920x1080 IPS touchscreen display, powered by an Intel Core M running at 2GHz and 64GB of local storage with the option to add up to a 64GB SD card for more space. There will be a dock which comes with the tablet to allow you to connect a display, mouse and keyboard while you are not on the road, with a single USB 3.0 and micro HDMI connectivity when you are mobile. The tablet is obviously made to compete with the Surface Pro 3, the base model of which sports a better screen and processor but is more expensive than the $700 Dell and does not include the price of the dock which Dell bundles with the Venue 11 Pro. IT professionals should note that with the inclusion of the optional fingerprint scanner and two factor authentication the Venue is approved for use by the US DoD. Check out more on the Venue and its competitor on The Inquirer.

"Announced at the Dell World conference in Austin, Texas today, the Venue 11 Pro 7000 Series tablet will "accelerate productivity for mobile workers and provide secure access to content beyond the corporate firewall for easy IT management", the firm said."

Intel's upcoming 14nm product line, Broadwell, is expected to have six categories of increasing performance. Broadwell-Y, later branded Core M, is part of the soldered BGA family at expected TDPs of 3.5 to 4.5W. Above this is Broadwell-U, which are also BGA packages, and thus require soldering by the system builder. VR-Zone China has a list of seemingly every 15W SKU in that category. 28W TDP "U" products are expected to be available in the following quarter, but are not listed.

As for those 15W parts though, there are seventeen (17!) of them, ranging from Celeron to Core i7. While each product is dual-core, the ones that are Core i3 and up have Hyper-Threading, increasing the parallelism to four tasks simultaneously. In terms of cache, Celerons and Pentiums will have 2MB, Core i7s will have 4MB, and everything in between will have 3MB. Otherwise, the products vary on the clock frequency they were binned (bin-sorted) at, and the integrated graphics that they contain.

These integrated iGPUs range from "Intel HD Graphics" on the Celerons and Pentiums, to "Intel Iris Graphics 6100" on one Core i7, two Core i5s, and one Core i3. The rest pretty much alternate between Intel HD Graphics 5500 and Intel HD Graphics 6000. Maximum frequency of any given iGPU can vary within the same product, but only by about 100 MHz at the most. The exact spread is below.

Unfortunately, without the number of shader units to go along with the core clock, we cannot derive a FLOP value yet. This is a very important metric for increasing resolution and shader complexity, and it would provide a relatively fair metric to compare the new parts against previous offerings for higher resolutions and quality settings, especialy in DirectX 12 I would assume.

Probably the most interesting part to me is that "Intel HD Graphics" without a number meant GT1 with Haswell. Starting with Broadwell, it has been upgraded to GT2 (apparently). As we can see from even the 4.5W Core M processors, Intel is taking graphics seriously. It is unclear whether their intention is to respect gaming's influence on device purchases, or if they are believing that generalized GPU compute will be "a thing" very soon.

The Inquirer had a chance for some hands on time with the new Acer Aspire Switch 12 convertible tablet and keyboard. It is powered by the new Core M 5Y10a at 1Ghz, which does not require a fan and has 4GB of RAM and runs Win8. The screen specifications were not listed but their eyeballs suggest the screen is a full 1080p which is a great improvement from the usual 1366x768 on these convertible devices. They were not overly impressed by the quality of the keyboard or the process to attach or remove it from the screen but the sacrifice in aesthetics does help to keep the device very light and thin when the keyboard dock is attached. You can see their preview here, hopefully a full review will appear soon.

"The Aspire Switch 12 is the successor to the Taiwanese firm's previous affordable multi-mode device, the Aspire Switch 10. It boasts a slimmer design thanks to Intel's new 14nm fanless processor, has a 12.5in display and features five alternative viewing modes."